Courtyard House: I Rely on Time-Space Trade to Build a Nation

Old Xu disappeared for two whole days.

On the third day at noon, he returned to his post with sixty or seventy men, looking travel-worn but full of energy.

He kept walking and headed straight for the playground—he knew Zhao Ping'an must be there.

Sure enough, Zhao Ping'an was standing by the playground, half his attention focused on the new and experienced drivers practicing "starting and stopping" and "zigzagging around cones" on the open ground.

He focused the other half of his attention on the dozen or so soldiers, the best literate and mathematically capable, whom he had dragged over, under the shade of a tree on the other side.

They were sweating profusely as they devoured the thick "122mm Howitzer Firing Table," muttering calculations under their breath.

"Comrade Ping An!" Old Xu's voice preceded his arrival, brimming with barely suppressed joy. "Look! Look how many talented people I've brought back for you!"

Zhao Ping'an turned around upon hearing the sound and saw dozens of unfamiliar but energetic faces behind Lao Xu. His eyes lit up and he went to greet them.

"Twenty experienced truck drivers and a complete artillery platoon—all promising young men who have fired artillery and understand basic calculations!"

Old Xu patted Zhao Ping'an's shoulder hard, his face full of "praise me!" expressions.

Zhao Ping'an's gaze swept over the upright soldiers, and he instantly understood, nodding with a smile:

"Hey, Lao Xu, not bad! Looks like you successfully snatched food from the tiger's mouth, securing at least four artillery pieces for our brigade? You must have spent a lot of time talking to the commanders, right?"

"Well, the process was tortuous, but the result was good!" Old Xu chuckled, a subtle "you know what I mean" expression flashing across his face, clearly indicating that the negotiation process was not easy.

He immediately changed the subject, his expression turning serious: "Let's not talk about this anymore, Comrade Ping An."

Now that we have all the necessary personnel, the top priority is the relocation and installation of equipment at the penicillin factory! We can't delay any longer.

He leaned closer and lowered his voice: "The thousand large yellow croakers for the transaction are ready. They're in that cave over there. We'll bring them back, and you can give them to the other party."

"Great!" Zhao Ping'an perked up, glanced at the sky, and said, "Old Xu, you've had a long journey, it's almost noon."

Let's go to the canteen first and have a hot meal for everyone. After the meal, the convoy will set off immediately! I already had the equipment loaded onto the trucks; there are five trucks in total, just waiting for your return.

Now we have vehicles! One vehicle, squeezed in, can hold a platoon! Five empty vehicles are just enough to transport two fully equipped infantry companies, plus our technical team. Lightly equipped and fast-moving, we'll head straight to our destination! We'll strive to have the new factory erected within three days!

"That's exactly what I've been waiting for!" Old Xu clapped his hands and laughed.

After lunch, the side gate of the camp quietly opened.

A mixed convoy consisting of five trucks carrying equipment, five troop transport trucks, and several trucks fully loaded with fuel and supplies slowly drove out, raising a cloud of dust.

Then another convoy of trucks carrying eight cannons followed, heading in another direction.

Zhao Pingan and Lao Xu personally led the team, while Zhao Dongliang and Zhou Liang stayed behind to oversee the brigade's daily operations and continue to focus on training.

The journey was indeed as difficult as expected, with the bumpy dirt road causing the truck to bounce around constantly.

But with these powerful Shaanxi Heavy Trucks, the convoy's speed is several times faster than if it had relied solely on walking and mule transport.

Although the journey was bumpy, there were no dangers.

The destination is a natural cave, 120 kilometers away, in a more remote area surrounded by mountains.

This location had been selected long ago, and a reliable garrison force had been dispatched by the military region in advance to clear and guard it.

The convoy arrived at the foot of the mountain around 4 p.m. that day.

With the support and assistance of the garrison troops, the unloading and transfer work proceeded in a tense but orderly manner.

The heavy equipment parts were disassembled and carried by the soldiers on their shoulders and by hand, step by step, up the carved-out path to the entrance of the cave halfway up the mountain.

Before 8 p.m., all equipment and components had been safely transported to their designated location inside the cave.

Zhao Ping'an, without taking a break, immediately directed the technicians to install the diesel generator and connect the lighting wires to illuminate the deep cave.

With the previous successful experience, the installation work proceeded much more smoothly this time.

The technicians each performed their duties, referring to the drawings, installing brackets, connecting pipes, calibrating instruments...

The guards assisted in completing most of the physical labor and basic installation work.

Only during critical connection, debugging, and system startup stages does Zhao Ping'an need to personally oversee or handle the process.

The penicillin branch factory director appointed by the military region was Commander Li, who also served as the commander of the guard regiment. He pulled Lao Xu aside and watched with great amazement.

These young soldiers moved swiftly and worked in perfect harmony, as if it were not their first time doing this job.

"Old Xu, the soldiers Brigade Commander Zhao has brought are truly remarkable!" Regiment Commander Li exclaimed in a low voice. "They don't seem like they've only been working with the machines for a short time; they're more skilled than many veteran operators!"

Old Xu nodded with pride: "They were all taught by Comrade Ping An. They are quick-witted and hardworking."

Early on the third day, just as dawn was breaking.

Deep inside the cave, as the last set of lines was connected, Zhao Ping'an slowly pushed up the main control switch.

A deep hum of the motor filled the air, indicator lights on the various gauges lit up one by one, the ventilation system started working, and the temperature display on the fermenter began to slowly rise...

"The equipment is operating normally!"

"All instrument parameters are stable!"

"The temperature of the inoculum container has reached the set value!"

Reports came from different positions.

Zhao Ping'an carefully checked the data of the most critical nodes, finally straightened up, nodded to Lao Xu and Commander Li who were waiting anxiously, and said with a tired but gratified smile: "Installation and debugging completed, system startup successful."

The trial production process has already begun. The first batch of penicillin stock solution is expected to crystallize and be produced in five to six days.

"This...this is done?" Commander Li was both surprised and delighted, and still somewhat incredulous.

"Commander Zhao, only three days! Installation and debugging completed in just three days? This...this is too fast!"

Zhao Pingan rubbed his sore eyes and explained:

"Commander Li, most of the installation work is physical labor. Our soldiers are strong and disciplined, so their efficiency is naturally high."

The real technical debugging part is much easier because our technicians have all worked on the first production line. We know where problems are likely to occur and how to adjust the key parameters. That's what we call "experience." That's why we can do it so quickly.

Just then, the technician in charge of the first process ran over to report: "Reporting, Commander! Inoculation of the fermentation tank is complete, and all initial parameters are normal!"

Zhao Ping'an breathed a sigh of relief, his tense nerves relaxed, and a huge feeling of exhaustion surged up over him.

He couldn't help but let out a long yawn, his vision blurring slightly.

"Old Xu, Commander Li," Zhao Ping'an said in a hoarse voice.

"This has entered the automatic operation phase. With Lu Mingyuan and the others watching over it, there shouldn't be any major problems as long as we operate according to the procedures."

"I...I need to go to sleep for a while, I really can't stay awake any longer."

Seeing his bloodshot eyes and haggard face, Old Xu quickly said, "Go quickly! Take some time to rest! Don't worry, we'll take care of things here!"

Zhao Ping'an didn't bother with formalities. He gave Lu Mingyuan a few more instructions on key matters, then dragged his leaden legs to the makeshift bed that the branch factory had temporarily arranged for him. Too lazy to even take off his clothes, he lay down and fell asleep immediately.

I slept soundly for a long time.

When he opened his eyes again, he felt that the sunlight was a bit too bright.

After a few seconds of stunned silence, he realized that he hadn't been woken up, but had woken up naturally.

Turning my head to look at the simple wooden table next to me, I saw that someone had placed a bowl of millet porridge that had long since gone cold and two steamed buns on it.

Outside the window, the sun was already high in the sky; judging by the light and shadow, it was probably close to noon the next day.

He slept for more than a day and a night.

Just as I was about to eat, I heard gunshots coming from afar outside the window: "Bang! Bang!"

"Shuttle? What happened?" Zhao Ping'an asked.

"Brigade Commander, you're awake? I'll send someone to ask right away." Shuanzi, who had been promoted to the position of company commander of his own guard company, pushed open the door, poked his head out, and tried his best to say something before turning around and going out again.